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Adams County is the third oldest county in the state of Ohio. It was formed on
July 10, 1797 by proclamation of Winthorp Sargent, Secretary of the old
Northwest Territory, acting on behalf of Governor Arthur St. Clair. The new
county was named in honor of the incumbent president, John Adams. The oldest
white settlement in Adams County is Manchester, founded in 1791 by Nathaniel
Massie. It was the last stockaded village to be built in what is now the state
of Ohio.
Manchester was settled on the Ohio River at a point known to the early inhabitants as Three Islands. This area was a well known landmark on the river and it was here that many pioneers met their death. The river channels between the islands were narrow and so provided an excellent place for Indians to ambush white settlers on their way down the river. The first county seat was Manchester, but due to political differences, was later established by the Ohio Legislature at West Union in 1803. One of the first settlers of Adams County was Thomas Kirker, an Irish immigrant, Kirker became involved in the new state's politics and served two terms as Ohio's second governor. His old stone house, erected in 1805, is still standing in Liberty Township and is occupied by Kirker's descendants. The first official road blazed through the wilderness of Ohio was Zane's Trace. Laid out in 1796-97, it crosses Adams County diagonally and roughly follows State Route 41 of today. Along this route were built early inns and taverns, three of which are standing today. Well known individuals such as Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and Thomas Hart Benton traveled this road in the first quarter of the Nineteenth Century. The county's most prominent "native son" is John A. Cockerill, born in Locust Grove in 1845 and raised in West Union. Cockerill became an internationally known journalist and newspaper editor. He was co-founder of the Washington Post, one of the nations most influential newspapers of today. Prior to the Civil War, many residents opened their homes to fleeing slaves escaping from the South. Over thirty "stations" on the Underground Railroad have been thus far researched in the county. During the Civil War, Adams County was visited by Confederate General John H. Morgan and his 2,500 Rebel raiders. Stores were ransacked, horses "confiscated" and bridges burned, but fortunately, only one Adams County civilian lost his life during this military action. |